Designing, Implementing and Assessing and Engaging Learning Activity with the SPISE Model of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) [Word Version]

Project Instructions

Session 1 September 24, 2020 (1:30-3:30 OR 4:30-6:00):

The SPISE Model of CRT and Project Description

Session 2 October 22, 2020 (1:30-3:30 OR 4:30-6:00):

Community of Practice Presentation and Feedback

Professors Dawn Levy and Dorina Tila

Rationale: Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) can improve students’ learning (Bassey, 2016), help students discover their interests and talents, build relationships (Bassey, 2016), increase participation and communication (Chen & Yang, 2017), and result in higher rates of positive student behavior (Lars, Pas, Bradshaw, Rosenberg &Vines, 2013). As such, faculty may choose to incorporate Culturally Responsive Teaching pedagogies and techniques into their course and assignment design.

The project: You will design a CRT learning activity for your own course utilizing the SPISE model of Culturally Responsive Teaching. You will then present your learning activity at a follow-up community of practice session where the workshop coaches and fellow participants will provide feedback on your activity. You will also be given tools to help you assess the activity as implemented in your course. The project will run in two sessions that are four weeks apart.

 

SESSION I: LEARN ABOUT THE SPISE MODEL OF CRT AND PREPARE TO CREATE THE LEARNING ACTIVITY

STEP 1: Think about one of your existing course activities or a new activity and how you might adapt it to infuse CRT techniques and pedagogy. It can be an assignment, semester-long project, discussion forum, class room activity, presentation or any discipline-specific formative or summative assessment tool. Make it relate to students and give them a personal attachment to it. It should help give them a sense of belonging in the course. Connect it to their culture, language, ethnicity, experiences, emotions or other individual connector. Here are some CRT thoughts to guide your thinking and design process during this first step:

• CRT is “…[a] set of considerations, attitudes, self-awareness, and teaching decisions that help teachers bring more academic benefit to students of cultural backgrounds different from their own” (Hoffman, 2018)
• CRT is a pedagogy that emphasizes the inclusion of students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994). Acknowledge the life experiences of students and respect the rich cultural, national and linguistic heritages of the diverse student body at your college
• Culturally responsive teachers…relate the curriculum to students’ backgrounds, establish connections with families, understand students’ cultural experiences, establish connections with local communities, create shared learning experiences, and recognize cultural differences as strengths (Bassey, 2016)
• “Are we making connections between young people’s lives and the content that we attempt to teach?”
• Continual engagement among diverse students requires a holistic approach where the how, what, and why of teaching are connected (Ogbu, 1995)
• “…underrepresented ethnic minority students and first-generation students do report a lower sense of belonging than continuing-generation students or white students” (Johnson, 2020)

STEP 2: How can you design or modify the activity using the SPISE approach? What would the five phases look like in your new or restructured assignment? The SPISE model provides a scaffolded framework for course activity design that initiates and sustains engagement with a built-in a feedback loop that provides assessment of the activity as part of its impact.

Five Phases of the SPISE Model:

1. Selection: Create/re-think an activity that allows students to choose a topic that

leverages their cultural capital and personal experience. Student choice is a key to the success of the model and is stressed in CRT research.

Examples:

• Business course: student chooses a publicly traded company to research that has some personal connection to them or related to a future aspiration
• Economics course: student chooses a country to research that has some meaning or connection to their lives
• Biology course: student journals about own family’s nutrition choices and related history of disease
• History course: student chooses biography of leader or hero most relatable to their personal identities

2. Planning: Scaffold the work to include various touchpoints that sustain engagement and deepen interactions with classmates and instructor.

Examples:

• Asynchronous discussions between and among the instructor and students about a given student’s chosen topic throughout the semester builds interest and validates the student’s choice as meaningful
• Reflective pre and post activity elements can give depth to the activity and reinforce the significance and relevance to the student’s personal life
• Prompt them to discuss business and economic terms in relation to their personal frame of reference.

3. Integration: Connect the learning activity to other aspects of the course, campus activities or student’s life experiences or circumstances to make the activity authentic and lasting.

Examples:

• Connect the activity to mission and activities of student clubs
• Outside speakers interact with students to strengthen personal connections.
• Involve community organizations to which students or their families belong
• Use of virtual tours or testimonials can be used in an online environment. https://agexplorer.com/virtual-field-trip?utm_source=DE&utm_medium=VFTPage_3.21.18_5.3.18&utm_campaign=FFA&utm_content=JD_VFT_Register

4. Sharing: CRT research shows that sharing responsibility for teaching with students or give students control a part of the lesson empowers them and build confidence.

Examples:

• Business course: Taking the role of financial advisor, the student evaluates the investment potential in the selected company via a presentation to the class.
• Economics course: Playing the role of economic advisor, the student gives recommendations about the chosen country’s future economic situation
• Any course: Student chooses a chapter or topic that interests them and teaches to the class

5. Evaluation: Students answer pre- and post-semester questionnaires evaluating their experiences regarding feelings of inclusion, engagement, and connection to the course material, instructor and fellow classmates. This helps with assessment of the model, but is also a CT strategy. Asking students for their feedback values their experiences and acknowledges their individual sense of belonging in the class. (Sample surveys to be shared in Session 2).

STEP 3: Create your Learning Activity

Participants will create their activities during the four weeks between Session 1 and Session 2. The accompanying rubric/checklist should guide you in creating your activity. Participants should prepare an instruction sheet for students describing the activity, submission rules, grading criteria and any other requirements. The Learning Activity instruction sheet should be submitted to the project coaches by Sunday 10/18.

 

SESSION 2: COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: SHARE YOUR LEARNING ACTIVITY AND RECEIVE FEEDBACK

During Session 2, you will share your activity and receive feedback from fellow participants and the workshop coaches in a supportive community of practice environment. The rubric will guide these conversations and be used to assess participants’ adherence to the project guidelines and goals.

In advance of Session 2 (by the Sunday 10/18), participants should submit their Learning Activity to the project coaches. Each participant should be prepared to spend about 3-4 minutes explaining their Learning Activity to the participants and coaches who will then provide constructive feedback.

We look forward to exploring CRT with you and learning about your new or redesigned course activity. Remember that CRT is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance students’ engagement, learning and sense of belonging in your course…even just one activity at a time!